Welcome to the Macedonia live stream! We’re glad you’re here.
if they come once they come back we have more kids saved at mdus Hill through all the seven associations in one summer that all Green County does all year so that’s why it’s important to me you know when you go to plant a garden you plow the fertile field Baptist seals the field and believe it or not U uh Camp has become used to be just church kids and they it’s a whole different group of kids we have kids who come there are hungry we have kids who come there go they’re like me was a kid it’s a it’s a treatful and churches are full of these kids who Need Just A Week w [Music] so if you’re interested in joining me for Baptist Hills camp this year then contact our office use your connect card or you can stop me right after the service right now let’s do what we do best and stand up and Worship the Lord in spirit and in truth church can we stand as we begin this morning lift this up we won’t feel them oh we won’t fear the night we will walk the valley with you by our side you will go before us you will lead the way we found a refuge only you can sa sing with joy now our God is for us the Father’s Love it’s a strong and mighty fores prise your voice now no love is greater who can stand against us if our God is for [Music] us even when I st even when I fall even when I turn back still your love is short you not a you will I forsake you will cheer me on with your never in in Grace sing with joy now our God is for us the Father’s love is strong in my raise your voice raise your voice now your love is greater who can stand against us my God is for neither height nor depth can separate neither height nor dep can separate us hell and death will not defeat us he who gave his son to free us holds be in his love oh neither height nor death can St lift it t death will not defeat us who gave his to be in [Music] his sing with joy now our God is for us the Father’s Love is a strong and mighty foress raise your voice now no love is greater who can stand can be lift it up Church is oh sing We Joy now our God is for us the is all is strong and mighty foress prise your voice now love is great looking stand against God is for us [Music] Blessed assurance Jesus is mine all a for Taste Of Glory [Music] in air of salvation [Music] Churches of God born of his spir washed in his blood this is my story this is my song praising My Savior all the day long this is my story this is my song prising myor all the day long sing that again praising my saor all the day long [Music] [Music] I will trust my saor Jesus when my dark is just before just to sink trust seems the hardest thing [Music] all I will trust my saor Jesus TR him when my strength is for I know the shield of Jesus is the safe place sing it out Jesus [Music] name Jesus Jus we trust you more and more Jesus only Jesus may my heart be ever amen I will trust my savior Jesus Jesus he has his way and I know the path is chos is to Everlasting Jesus Jesus only Jesus me trust you more and more Jesus only Jesus my heart we sing Jesus Jesus only Jesus me trust you more and Jesus only Jesus in my heart thank you Jesus for your [Music] presence oh on the cross oh it was see we can go now ever trusting in one who died for me what could I think for your gift is come fre so I trust you simply Trust You Lord with every part of me give it all to you oh on the the cross how we was see can’t go now ever trusting the one who died for me what could I for your gift is complete so I trust you simply Trust You Lord with every part of me every Jesus Jesus we trust you Jesus only Jesus my heart lift that up Church Jesus Jesus only Jesus me trust you more and Jesus only Jesus in my heart be ever yours am [Music] prise the Lord heav adore Ang in the high and moon before him praise him all of Praise the Lord for he has [Music] spoken Mighty voice oy which never shall be [Music] broken for their guidance he has made all creation Jo the song of Praise let every tongue declare is my he we will sing of your goodness and mercy all of our days praise the Lord for he is glorious never shall his prise fa God has made his Saints [Music] Victorious sin and Death Shall Not all creation join all creation join the song of Praise every Tong let every tongue declare is mighty way we will sing of your goodness and mercy all of our days Glory Glory Glory To You Lord Glory Glory Glory To You Lord lift it up glor Glory shout Glory Glory To You Lord Lord Oh Glory Oh Glory To You Lord prise the god of our [Music] Salvation h on highest power Proclaim Heaven and Earth all creation Lord we magnify your name all creation join the song of [Music] Praise let every Tong declare is my he way we will sing of your goodness and mercy all of our days [Music] we will sing of your goodness and mercy all of our days we will sing of your goodness and mercy all of our [Music] days amen church amen thank you’all for worshiping you may be seated what a good time of worship that was and at this time our children are going to go ahead and to be dismissed for children’s church as we continue in our service [Music] thanks all right Mac Church how you guys doing today how many of y’all had to like row row row your boat in here today man that was a lot of rain and uh I’m glad that you made it today and that you’re choosing I know it’s summer people are in people are out but I’m glad you’re here here this week uh to worship with us to be in the word and to learn the ways of the wise and uh if you’re just jumping in with us we are studying The Book of Proverbs right now and looking at what does it look like to walk in the path of wisdom and so we’ve looked at topics like how to know God’s will we’ve talked about what uh God’s design is for sex we’ve looked at how to tame our tongues we’ve looked at how to heal broken relationships and so it’s been a great uh series and hopefully I know I’ve heard from some of you where you say man this has been really good for my soul and so hopefully this week continues that for you so I why don’t you to go ahead and open up to the Book of Proverbs and uh as we’re jumping in today uh uh we’re going to be talking today about friendship and uh as I was building a list of the things that I wanted to talk about that Proverbs talked most about uh Proverbs was on my list uh but the reality is is We Believe here that 82.7% of what God wants to do in your life happens at small groups that it happens when you’re not just here on a Sunday morning service but you are doing life with other people uh building friendships and following Jesus together and so the application I’m going to tell you just on the front end is to jump into one of our small groups to jump into one of our Sunday School classes where you can start to to build some of those friendships in due life with other people and I believe like yeah it is great if you’re here at church but that’s only like the top 20% you’re just skimming the surface of what God’s really intended for you and so the application today is going to be to do and dig a little bit deeper than that uh last week we did the macknik and we all went out to the park together and had a picnic after church and one of the things that was most encouraging is just to see the number of newer folks to our church that were at that picnic and uh it’s exciting to be a part of a church that’s growing uh we’re growing about 30% a year right now and uh that kind of puts us up there as one of the top fastest growing SBC churches anyway or Baptist Churches here uh in Green County but what that means is any given week when you look around there’s going to be people you don’t recognize right people you don’t know and just this week a guy came and sat down in my office and he said listen I’m recently retired and uh one of the things I’m missing most is just guys to do life with and so like I’m bored and I’m alone and like I need to get in the game and the reality is there’s a lot of us here in that maybe you’re new to this church but maybe you’re just like feel like man I just could use more friends right more ladies more guys whatever to run this W race with as you follow Jesus and so that’s where we’re going to be talking about today and to be honest with you when I start a topic like friendship I I come a little bit nervous because it feels like it’s going to turn into like Mr Rogers Neighborhood like I should come in in a sweater vest and take off my penny loafers and it’s going to like you know turn into this thing where we all get in touch with our feelings and we be vulnerable with each other and we’re just going to end with a giant group hug and hold hands and sing friends are friends forever and some of you are like that’d be the greatest church service ever but for a lot of us I know the guys here that sounds about as appealing as a proctology exam and so that’s our my first point today listen friendship is essential for a healthy life friendship is essential for you to live a healthy life jump in with me to Proverbs chap 18 as we get started and see what God has to say about the wisdom of choosing friendships in your life Proverbs 18: 24 it says a man of many companions may come to ruin but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother this is one of those verses that’s got kind of dual meanings right I mean ultimately the person who’s going to stick with you closer than anyone else is Jesus that he is the friend who sticks with you closer than a brother what it’s also saying here is that it is important for you to not just have a thousand companions or a thousand shallow relationships a thousand Facebook friends or Twitter followers but to have real friends who stick with you no matter what’s going to be happening in your life that’s what you’re looking for a friend who sticks with you closer than a brother this word sticks is the same word Cleaves in Hebrew that we see in Genesis chapter 2 and in Genesis chapter 2 where it’s talking about is a husband and wife right that that man will leave his father and mother and cling cleave to his wife and it’s using the same thing here to talk about friendships that that there’ll be people in your life that God has designed that you will cling together in the midst of the storm called life in proverbs 27: 10 it says this it says do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family and do not go to your relatives house when disaster strick strikes uh when disaster strikes you better it’s better to have a neighbor nearby than a relative far away now it’s interesting in both these passages Solomon is saying that friendship can even be more valuable than family and some of you I’ve met your family here and you’re like that’s not that hard right but this was like really shocking for people in the Hebrew culture because for them family was everything like family was your security and so when they say passages like this that man it’s better to have a friend next door than a family member far away like that was shocking that in disaster you’re going to lean on your friendships that are close by he’s saying friendship’s going to bring some things into your life that your family can’t bring no matter how close to them you are there are some things that a great friendship’s going to bring into your life that even your spouse can’t bring God has designed us so that friendship is essential for a healthy life and friendships unlike family come with a mutual choice right you didn’t get to pick your family they didn’t get to pick you all right that’s how that thing worked out when it comes to friendships right that you do get to choose like you choose them and mutually they choose you sometimes it doesn’t work that way you ever have a friend where they chose for you to be their friend but you didn’t choose them back right it’s like cable guy right it it gets weird listen friendships in Christ can in some ways be more deep and meaningful than even your family relationships if you remember Jesus when he was praying for his disciples he knew he was going to the Cross his death for our sin was imminent and when a person is about to die they know their life is is coming to an end like they’re going to say important stuff because they know the end is coming and one of the things Jesus says to his disciples there when his last prayer for them is recorded for us in John chapter 17 and he says there father let these disciples be one as we are one in other words one of the primary goals of Jesus in his death was to create a community of friends that would resemble in essence the Trinity now you see the doctrine of the Trinity God existed as one being in three persons and that means god existed eternity eternally as a community of friends sometimes in other religions people uh talk about those Gods as if you know they created people because they were lonely or they were bored or they somehow needed people to satisfy something that they were lacking listen for for the our heavenly father that is not accurate he did not need us because he needed a friend because he needed someone to worship him he didn’t need that he’s existed from eternity past in this beautiful community of friends called the Trinity so when we experience friendship we’re experiencing a dimension of God and we were created in God’s image and so friendship is essential in our life and on the flip side when we are isolated without friends we are very unlike how God created us to be if you remember in Genesis right God goes through and he creates and at the end of everything he creates he says and it was good and it was good and it was good and you know the first time it’s recorded it wasn’t good says God God made man and he said it is not good that man should be alone and yet the reality is a lot of us go through life alone isolated maybe sometimes fearful that others might hurt us if we let them in too close but friendship is an essential biblical thing in our lives so what did God do God made a little naked friend for Adam and man and wife were the first Community like the first little nudist Community that’s what they were these are the things you guys will go home and remember nothing else that I said you’ll just remember that right but then because of our sin we were cursed and we went back to being alone living primarily for ourselves and protecting our own little interests listen when we choose isolation we are choosing a path apart from what God designed us for and so if you can catch this don’t miss it right the essence of Christian love of really following Jesus is to be engaged in biblical friendships and a lot of times we think oh yeah Christian love like I know what this is right this is when we send money to like little kids in Africa or when we build Huts in guat Guatemala but Christian love is also best expressed in loving our friends and the other believers that God puts us around Jesus says this in John 13:35 he says by this will all men know you are my disciples because you love one another this is the distinguishing characteristic of the people who are jesus’ followers that they love and care for one another as a family in the New Testament there are 80 or 58 one another commands in scripture 58 of them uh it tells us to love one another care for one another pray for one another encourage one another share with one another and there’s 58 of these commands friends listen you cannot fulfill what God has called you to as a Christian if you are not in community with other people doing life together it’s impossible right and so I know like listen if you’re in church like that’s great that’s a great first step you’ve come in the front door but listen you’re just getting the top 20% of what it really means to be a follower of Jesus and so you need to get busy about these Commandments and you can only do that in real community and that’s the vision of our church it’s not just to be a a huge audience of people that Gather in a room one day a week it is to be a community of friends that do all 58 of the commands one more thing while I’m on a roll here Christian missions is essentially making friends with people who don’t know the God and a lot of times we say Christian missions and we think of a missions trip and that’s a part of it but when you think about it what did Jesus really do he would go and he would befriend people that were far from the Lord right and he would explain to them how to be right with God and so part of the Gospel is not just making us right with God and bringing peace uh because of Jesus death for us on the cross part of the Gospel is also making us right with people around us so friendship is very important but the reality is we don’t really talk a lot about that it’s not in the news when you watch movies and music and magazines like they talk a lot about sex and romance which are fun things but they don’t talk a lot about friendship right or celebrity news right no one cares who’s friends with who in Hollywood they only care with who’s sleeping with who in Hollywood right when Ben afflac is friends with George Clooney we don’t give them combined names like oh it’s Borge right we don’t do that here here’s why right sociologists for the last 30 years have talked about what they’ve called the commodification of relationships a commodity is something that you buy and sell and when you do that you enter into a relationship with the person called a consumer vendor relationship the relationship isn’t based on your enjoyment of that person or your commitment to each other it’s based on what do I get out of this Rel relationship for example if you have a local grocery store you really like to go to maybe you like the people and they really like you and that’s great right maybe you even know the names of the person who checks you out but if the quality of the food goes down or the prices go up or you see rats or cck cockroaches crawling around guess what you’re no longer going to go to that store and sometimes we do this in our relationships with each other where it becomes about what do I get out of this and we commodify our relationships and people can just become a means to an end listen the more that happens the less we talk about what real friendship is in the end friendship is about caring and loving that person just for who they are even when you get nothing out of it and when that happens um something beautiful happens 50 years ago CS Lewis said it this way in his book The Four loves he said because we don’t really value friendship friendship is the first relationship that is squeezed out of our Lives we continue family relationships work relationships but not friendships especially men and especially men over 30 and in fact it’s gotten worse The Last 5 Years statistics tell us that after covid that a lot of us have just stopped interacting socially like we did before and I don’t know if it was just that season where we were just like no to be alone is to be safe but it’s it’s actually counterintuitive to what the Bible teaches us right to be alone is to be in danger here’s what the Surgeon General said just this last year the Surgeon General of the United States Dr Vivic Murthy cause loneliness isolation and a lack of connection Connection in our country an epidemic and a Public Health crisis in 2023 he wrote a report entitled our epidemic of loneliness and isolation and in it he said this he said loneliness is far more than just a bad feeling it harms both individual and societal Health it is associated with a greater risks of cardiovascular disease dementia stroke depression and anxiety and premature death the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity and the harmful consequences of a society that lacks social connection can be felt in our schools workplaces and Civic organizations like this church where performance productivity and engagement are diminished so I want to show you why this is so detrimental so number one in your notes friendship is essential for a healthy life here’s our second point today friendships form our attitudes and character they form our attitudes and character look at Proverbs 13:20 it says He Who Walks With wise men will be wise but the friend of fools shall be destroyed now it’s not saying God will destroy you but that you will destroy yourself by your choices right someone has said if you want to see what your life will look like five years from now look at the books you’re reading and the people you are hanging around and that will determine what your life’s going to look like five years from now so why do our friends have such an incredible power over us uh so sociologists call this the power of the need for Acceptance in our lives we have this internal need to be accepted in whatever group of people that we’re in and so a lot of times we will conform to the people and friends around us uh I was watching some of those like SEC secret uh hidden camera shows right like punked and I was watching this one and uh they played this joke on this person where everybody that got onto the elevator would face towards the back wall and so the first guy gets on and he’s the one that they’re pranking and he’s standing there and then the first person gets on and they face the back wall and he thinks wow you’re weird and the second gets on and faces the back wall and the third person gets on and faces the back wall and you know what happens right eventually he turns and starts facing the back wall as well right because we all desire to fit in there was another one where they’re in a doctor’s office and uh there’s one person they’re pranking everybody else is in on it and one by one the people in the waiting room get up and tear a page off of this calendar that’s hanging on the wall sure enough the guy follows along and eventually after seeing three or four people do it he gets up rips the thing off the wall like everyone else uh there’s another one where a one by one people start taking off clothing in the doctor’s office and no joke the person eventually yep starts disrobing right we all want to fit in and whether you like it or not it’s going to happen and we all can have two responses to this right some of us would say well listen don’t conform right scripture tells us don’t be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that happens in the word and we should do that but the other option is choose better friends right choose people who are following Jesus who are walking with him who are choosing a path of wisdom and when you become more like your friends it will be a good thing in your life so be cognizant of that Proverbs is saying He Who Walks With wise men will be wise right this is an important thing I’ve never seen a kid make a decision that didn’t affect their friendships and so like if you’re serious about wanting to follow Jesus sometimes you’re going to have to choose some better friendships and parents I want you to think about this a little bit as well and I’m not trying to beat you up here but like if your kids like are involved in 15 different sports and they’re just running from one activity to the next and one school event after the next right and they’re not really all that involved here at church and they don’t have much of a relationship with you and then they grow up and they want nothing to do with God and we think well I didn’t raise him this way yes you did you did you may not have taught them that way but you allowed all of their friendship ships and influences in life to be people who are fools and the definition is of a fool is a person who says I don’t fear God the word for friend in Hebrew is the same word as neighbor or companion and so if you’re looking at Proverbs and you see he you see companion or neighbor or friend they’re all the same word it’s always talking about friendship friends form are our attitudes and character here’s our third point today friends save us from self-destruction they save us from self-destruction Proverbs 27:6 and guys listen I wish Solomon would write in a way that wasn’t add right the way Proverbs is it’s like every two verses he switches subjects and so if you’re looking for wisdom on a topic like friendship the reality is it’s going to be scattered over a number of chapters in each book and so here we are now Proverbs 27 vers 6 he says faithful are the wounds of a friend man that’s so good underline that will you Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful we don’t talk a lot about this because we covered it a few weeks ago in the power of the tongue in our speech but a real friend can tell you when you’re about to do something that’s dumb right because listen you have blind spots in your life all of us need someone who can see what we don’t see in life and can tell you Hey listen I love you but you’re about to blow it you’re about to make a knucklehead decision right now and I can see this is the path that you’re on remember the path principle when when you end up where you end up in life is determined by the path of your decisions and your decisions place you on that path not your intention I can get out here and say hey family we’re going to Table Rock Lake and I can jump out here on i44 going west and no matter how much I intend to get to Table Rock Lake I’m not on a path that leads me there the same is true in our lives and sometimes we’re going to be going down a path that is taking us in the wrong direction and sometimes your friends can see it before you do and a good friend is going to say something to you about it they’re going to say hey you got a blind spot here you’re about to make a knucklehead decision and when that friend does it please don’t be that person who says well I used to have friends and then they said something hard to me so I just don’t have friends now I used to go to that church over there and then someone told me you know this and I just decided I ain’t going to be a part of that church no more listen they loved you and even though it might be hard to hear those truths sometimes that you’re not as perfect and wonderful as your mama thinks you are but sometimes when we are love each other and we’re in friendship right we’ve got to warn each other when we’re about to do something dumb in Hebrews chapter 3:13 it says but exhort one another or encourage one another every day as long as it is called today that none of you might be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin listen guys that hardness doesn’t happen in one decision it’s kind of like eating the blooming onion at Outback steakhous right that thing hardens your arteries right but not just when you have it once it’s it’s the the over and over again in your heart too When sin starts to make it hardened it’s going to happen a little bit at a time but you know what breaks up that hardness yes the word of God yes the Holy Spirit but also yes friends who can break up that hardness and say listen this is not a path that’s Godly and so we need to value that in our lives for many of you your lives are going bad because you don’t have a friend that’s close enough to speak into your life and so literally your blind spots are killing you you say well not me I don’t have any blind spots how do you know you’re like well I don’t see any listen that’s the whole point right sometimes you can’t see those blind spots in your life here’s our fourth point today friends take care of us when life falls apart friends take care of us when life falls apart and it’s not if it’s when in other words uh another book Soloman wrote right after Proverbs is actually the Book of Ecclesiastes and uh he says this here well but also very culturally inappropriately but we’re going to read it anyway Ecclesiastes 4: 9 through 11 he says two are better than one you guys have heard this before right for if they fall one will lift up His companion but woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up here’s where it gets culturally inappropriate again if two lie down together they will keep warm but how can one keep warm when they’re alone basically saying when life is cold and you need someone to spoon with it’s good to to have a pair all right CS Lewis said it this way he says when you go through pain there’s not theological reasoning that you most need it’s the slightest touch of human sympathy Studies have shown that women without a close friend are 10 times more likely to be depressed do you hear that women who don’t have a close friend are 10 times more likely to be depressed listen friends save us from self-destruction Proverbs 18:24 a man of many companions may come to ruin but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother uh I checked this week on Facebook I have like 1,700 and something friends on Facebook right but those aren’t real friends right I mean when I throw a birthday party none of them are getting the kazoo and the hat right the chances are those people aren’t coming to my house they don’t really know me they’re not going to challenge me when I’m making a sinful choice or being a knucklehead uh we need deep real friendships and one of the best vehicles for those here at Macedonia is to get into a small group to get into a group of people that are studying God’s word that aren’t perfect that they’re all broken but they’re starting to learn how to follow Jesus together now let me just talk to some of our students in the house I know some of you are here are your college students your high school students and listen it is important for you to be a part of a student Ministry in a youth group or a campus ministry at the University and that is tremendous but you also need to be a part of a multi-generational church someplace where you’re not just surrounded by people your age and your season of life but a place where you can rub shoulders with people who are older and perhaps wiser than you I know it’s a shocker that anyone would be wiser than you but it is good for you right and the same is true to have someone to serve right so students I challenge you don’t just do the the student Ministry at your college or here right do church with other people that aren’t your age serve invest volunteer and get involved I mean you ever read of The Lord of the Flies it didn’t turn out well we want you to be a part of a biblical Christ Community uh here so as we end this message let me give you five qualities from Proverbs of what a good friend looks like and for some of you this is like how do I choose a good friend but for a lot of us this is how do I be a good friend to other people around me here’s the First Quality we see and that is a friend who is genuine a friend who’s genuine in Proverbs 19:4 it says wealth brings many new friends but a poor man is is deserted by his friend listen sometimes when you’re the boss or you have influence or you have money you’re going to get all these new friends and they’re going to love you as long as there’s something they can get from you but when that thing runs out that friend will disappear right you need friends who are genuine a real friend walks in when everyone else walks out people who can love and care for you even when you’re at your worst here’s the second one constancy Proverbs 17:17 a friend loves at all times and a brother is born for a adversity a friend loves how often say it with me at all times at all times turn to the person next to you shake them and say all times all right you want a friend who’s constant that’s going to love you at all times and that means they love you even when you’re unlovable right because no one is lovable all the time and so friends walk in when everyone else walks out here’s our third one and that is you want a friend who’s Dependable Dependable in Proverbs 25:19 it says trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips you ever have a bad tooth how annoying is that we’ve got these floors at my house where if it’s rainy or wet out uh you’ll walk into my garage and it’s got some kind of sheen on it super slippery when it’s wet and so when you walk in you’re on regular concrete and you’re chilling and then you hit that little section and you’re like whoa I’m not going to do it twice you don’t know how much you count on something right until your foot slips and then you dislocate something and you’re torn and you’re laid up friendships are people you can depend on when you tell them something and you take it for granted like they’re not going to repeat it they’re the kind of people who aren’t going to be out on Twitter and Facebook and like you’re never going to guess what I just heard because you can trust them real friends are Dependable when you have a need whether it’s convenient for them or not right a great test for real friendship is what I call the moving test right all of a sudden you’re moving right you got to carry a mattress some furniture sure you’re moving to a new place who shows up to help you move right Nathan Hannah where you at who shows up because those are real friends who who would show up at your moving test those are your real friends and would you show up to someone’s move because that’s what real friendship looks like there’s the next one honesty Proverbs 24:26 this is a crazy verse and honest answer is like a kiss on the lips strange verse but what it saying is an honest answer is a real sign of friendship when someone is willing to give you honesty that person is a real friend of yours right friends tell each other the truth even when it’s painful and again I’m not going to spend a ton of time on this I feel like we’ve tackled this but if you see something in someone else’s life that’s killing them and you think think I don’t know I care about them too much to really hurt their feelings like that listen you’re not being a real friend to them right what you’re really saying is I care more about myself and being comfortable than I care about that person that’s not a real friend the next one is empathy empathy is to feel what someone else is feeling uh it’s a combination of words m means into path means feelings and so a real friend enters into the emotions and the feelings that you are experiencing again Solomon has a great way of wording this Proverbs 27:14 he says he who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice Rising early in the morning it will be counted as a curse to him listen who’s a Mourning person in the house show of hands mourning people all right I am not a Mourning person and so if you need to talk to me and you come showing up in my life early in the morning with a loud voice I’m going to knock you out don’t be doing that and so me and Solomon are the same here right he says listen uh empathy means you don’t show up in a person’s life with a loud voice early in the morning because you’re going to get jacked it’s knowing what that person’s experiencing and being able to empathize what’s the best way to deliver this news and and sometimes I’ve had to learn this in my marriage right when my wife calls me with a flat tire what she doesn’t need from me are the top 10 ways to avoid getting a flat tire right like she wants a little empathy and she wants me to call triaa or to get my behind over there to help fix this thing right and sometimes it’s like that there’s you’re going to have friends or your spouse and they just need you to hurt with them they don’t need you to fix it they don’t need the top 10 list of how to avoid whatever problem they’re going through right now they don’t need you to show up with a loud voice in the morning it’s a way to get yourself unfriended all right here’s the last one today and that is boundaries friends have boundaries Proverbs 25:17 let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house lest he have his fill of you and hate you yeah this is the friend who never goes home and they’re calling you like hey let’s let’s wear matching sweatshirts to church tomorrow let’s rent a tandem bicycle let’s do everything together and you’re like let’s not and they’re like a golden retriever right and they run up to you they got a stick in the mouth the tail is waving right and that’s how they always are hey let’s go hang out and you got to tell them listen I can’t return every phone call within seven minutes of you calling right I can’t answer every text within 60 seconds right I can’t be your surrogate God and you’ve got to tell them I can’t be all places at all times and I can’t meet the deepest needs of your soul and so friends have boundaries now some of you as we talk through these six qualities of a good friend maybe you’re discouraged and you’re like you know what I’ve not been the best friend to some people in my life maybe you’re doing inventory and you’re saying you know what uh I don’t have enough good friends in my life I’m not even sure if I know how in John 15 Jesus was talking to his disciples about friendship and he said this he says as I have loved you so love one another the real ability to be a friend comes from a experience with Jesus jesus’ love was genuine and he gave all that he had jesus’ love was constant and he loved us even when we were at our most unlovely jesus’ love was Dependable if he didn’t leave us at our lowest he won’t leave us now jesus’ love was on and he told us what we needed to hear even when we made us made people so mad they crucified him jesus’ love was empathetic he not only entered into our pain he not only wept when we wept but he actually took our pain upon himself what a friend we have in Jesus and when you experience that friendship it teaches you how to be a good friend to people around you not enter into relationships based on what I get out of this but loving them because they need it not because we have to please people and even what happens is even when people let you down you’re not as devastated because you have a friend in Jesus you have a friend who sticks closer than a brother that’s what Jesus did for us Jesus knew us completely and loved us thoroughly the gospel is that we are more wicked than we even realized and yet more loved by God than we ever dreamed was possible as we close today will you pray with me one of the things I want to do that before we get there though is I want to challenge you to do two things the first is if you’re not involved in a Sunday school class or a small group I want to challenge you to get involved in one and just quickly before we go if you lead a small group or a Sunday school class will you just stand for me right where you at raise your hand or stand if you lead a small group or a Sunday school class all right look around these are some of our folks we got one in the back there with the prayer meeting Daniel leads one I lead one right look around and find one of these folks and say hey I need to make some friendships I’m going to come and be in your class right and just come along with them it’s okay all right thank you guys you can sit down also we’ve got a men’s breakfast coming right I know some of you men you’re saying man I need some Warriors to run the race with to fight the good fight with so we got a men’s breakfast coming on June 22nd it’s a Saturday at 8:30 in the morning uh I need a few guys that can bring some food to share at that thing it can be Donuts uh but if you want to bring some eggs or something better that’s even better okay and uh I know we’re working on some things for ladies as well to create some some connection points and if you’d like to help with that uh come and let me know and we’d love to make that happen let me let’s pray together heavenly father I thank you for this day I thank you for teaching what US it looks like to be a a real friend to people around us Lord I Thank you that you loved us even when we were at our worst so father I pray now as our heads are bowed and eyes are closed maybe you’re here today and you’re saying listen I know I need to make a decision today to to plug in and to build some better friendships to take that step of being in a small group uh maybe the step for you is to say uh I need to just be a better friend to people around me but if you’re making a decision today to choose friendship I want to pray for you right where you are so would you slip your hand up today saying yes I’m choosing to take that step to Friendship if that’s you would you slip your hand up right now 3 2 1 hands going up saying I’m choosing that I’m getting involved in a small group I’m going to be a better friend to some person in my life yes I see you Heavenly Father help us to walk with you and to do this thing the way you’ve taught us to not the way we think best but the way you’ve taught us father we surrender Our Lives to you and we also surrender our relationships teach us what it looks like to go beyond just the superficial and to be friends with others the way you’ve called us to to link arms and to follow you together we pray for this in jesus’ name amen let’s stand and worship [Music] together my hope is buil on nothing [Music] less then Jesus BL and rightous I dare not trust the sweetest Str but holy trust in Jesus [Music] name that again my hope is buil on nothing Jesus [Music] and I dare not trust the sest [Music] but only trust in Jesus name can we sing Christ Alone Christ Alone Cornerstone we made strong in the savior’s love through the he is Lord Lord [Music] when darkness seems to hide his [Music] face I rest on his [Music] unchanging in every High my an holds [Music] with my anchor holds with Christ Alone cor strong we made strong in the love through the stor he is Lord Lord he is the Lord the Lord of [Music] all oh Christ can we lift it weak May strong he save his life through the St the [Music] Lord he shall come with trumpet sound oh may I then in found in his right and faultless Before the Throne [Music] hey what a friend we have in Jesus he is the Cornerstone he is the foundation and we learn to do this life from him and one of the things he tells us is man friendships are going to be essential hey before you go I want to remind you of a couple other avenues to plug in and do that uh we’ve got the Cardinals game coming up if you want tickets for that uh you can talk to Terry and Lisa they’ll be back in the Breezeway back here I think they’re in some Cardinals gear but I’m not 100% on that I told them to get like the big CL Flappy hand hats oh he’s got a hat okay um but probably not the two beverage container hats with the straws probably not to go that route all right uh but come with us out to the baseball game uh there’s a new ladies group led by Beth and Shirley and so if you want to connect with that uh going through the first steps of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus uh please connect with them they’ve got a class that meets up in two something so find one of them and follow them there after church ends here but hey be blessed and continue to follow Jesus as he leads us forward all right have a wonderful week God bless you [Music] [Music] all e